Over many years of 'maintenance' calls, I have to fess up that I replaced many ballasts 'hot'. Not much choice, most of the time.

Cut & cap the 'hot'; cut & cap the 'neutral'; cut the rest.

Yes, the disconnect is a nice requirement for safety.

If I remember correctly, some of the fixtures were wired thru the sockets, requiring a lamp 'in place' to make the feed to the ballast.


John